Share This Story!

Tempe hit-and-run victim: 'Someone knows who hit me'

TEMPE -- Justin Dvalk was still wearing bandages around his head and arm Thursday morning when he stood several feet from the spot where he was severely injured in a Tempe hit-and-run wreck near College Avenue and Broadway Road on Monday night.

Justin Dvalk was still wearing bandages around his head and arm Thursday morning when he stood several feet from the spot where he was severely injured in a Tempe hit-and-run wreck near College Avenue and Broadway Road on Monday night.

Dvalk returned to the spot with Tempe police to deliver a simple message: Someone knows who hit me without a second thought of stopping, and they need to report that information to police.

Investigators describe the car that hit Dvalk, 20, as a dark colored Chrysler Sebring or Dodge Stratus made between 2001 and 2006.

Dvalk was riding his bike home eastbound on Broadway around 8:30 p.m. when a vehicle hit him and immediately drove away. The Mesa Community College business student said the accident has left him with about 40 staples in his head and several more keeping his right arm intact.

"Seeing Justin and the state he's in we're just hoping that will someone will come forward with information," Tempe police Officer Steve Carbajal said. "There's no way someone could not know that they hit someone on the side of the road."

A Good Samaritan called an ambulance for Dvalk following the accident, where he was taken to a nearby hospital.

Carbajal said though Dvalk was biking eastbound in a westbound lane, the driver in question should have been seen him and would have noticed if he or she had hit something.

Car parts from the collision at the site give investigators a good idea of the damage to the vehicle, which would have affected the passenger side mirror. Carbajal asked body shops to keep this information in mind, were someone to come in requesting the parts.

Dvalk's family members visited Tempe from California to help him recuperate from the accident and deep head wounds.

Investigators requested anyone with information or tips call the Tempe Police Department at 480-350-8311 or Silent Witness at W-I-T-N-E-S-S (480-948-6377), or toll free at 1-800-343-TIPS.

There is a cash reward available for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.